Hey, APA: How did you come up with this? Where does this right come if not our legal code? Where do rights come from? Do the children know about this right, and the source of all, equal, human rights? Why is this not taught in public schools? Historically, when it’s no longer OK to initiate force against a group of people, when the equal rights of a minority group are won, who loses?)

Research indicates that physical discipline is not effective in achieving parents’ long-term goals of decreasing aggressive and defiant behavior in children or of promoting regulated and socially competent behavior in children.

Research has shown that children learn from the behavior modeled by parents, and therefore physical discipline may teach undesirable conflict resolution practices.

APA joins numerous professional and public health organizations in recommending that parents avoid using physical discipline, including:

the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,

American Academy of Pediatrics,

American College of Emergency Physicians,

American Medical Association,

American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children,

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling,

National Association of Counsel for Children,

National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners,

and National Foster Parent Association.

In addition, international agreement about the ineffectiveness of physical discipline has resulted in many countries banning the practice in all settings.